9.7.1 ABSTRACT: TISSUE PROCUREMENT FACILITY Director: Amy Skubitz .. The mission of the Tissue Procurement Facility (hereafter abbreviated TPF) is to procure samples from . patients in support of basic, translational; and clinical cancer researchers at the University of Minnesota ' Cancer Center who are currently funded by national peer-reviewed agencies. Our goal is to develop a repository of patient-derived specimens including well preserved samples of malignant and benigri tumors, rare tumors, organ matched normal tissue, and when possible, unrelated normal tissues. The TPF is a centralized resource thatcontrols for: standardization of tissue sample processing, storage, quality control, distribution, patient consent, and record maintenance. The TPF has office and laboratory space which is . , contiguous with Surgical Pathology's frozen satellite area and operating rooms of the University of Minnesota MedicalCenter, Fairview. The TPF has two liquid nitrogen freezers and one -80C freezer,with aooxygen . sensor and an alarm system. Acryostatand microtome areavailable for hourly .usage by researchers. The TPF works seamlessly with the activities of 'the Surgical Pathology Division, such that waste tissues are processed by: (a) freezing in liquid nitrogen; (b) embedding in a cryopreservative, then freezing at -80C; (c) . fixing in formalin, then embedding in paraffin; and (d) maintaining as fresh tissue foYimmediate use: We ensure that all patients sign our consent form prior to our procurement of their waste tissue, which may . include solid tumors, normal solid tissue, blood, urine, saliva, and ascites fluid. In addition, we "custom design" the way tissue specimens are procured in order to fulfill the Individual requests of each of the Cancer Center members. In order to meet the increasing tissue needs of Cancer Center members, we plan to expand our services to procure cytology specimens, (including pancreatic fine needle aspiration specimens, pleural fluid, and ascites fluid). Wewill also provide researchers with tissue microarrays and perform laser, . capture microdissection and immunohistochemical staining of samples